Monthly Archives

Monthly Archives for October 2016.

Win This: 1 Million MileagePlus Frequent-Flyer Miles

Enter the Travelzoo “Win a Million Miles” sweepstakes by November 30, 2016, for a chance to win the grand prize: 1 million United MileagePlus frequent-flyer miles, plus a check for $5,000 to offset the tax liability associated with the prize. There are two ways to enter: 1) by booking a hotel stay with Travelzoo, or…

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Unbundled Fares Coming to American, United in Early 2017

Bare fares—cheap coach fares with few perks and plenty of restrictions—are a thing. The unbundled fares, as they’re also called, are what have made Spirit, Frontier, and other ultra-low-cost carriers the darlings of the most price-sensitive customers, and of Wall Street. And the legacy carriers can’t afford not to compete for those flyers. When American…

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Reality Check: Are These the World’s 20 Best Airlines?

Conde Nast Traveler gets a lot of mileage out of its annual Readers’ Choice Awards, slicing and dicing feedback from 300,000 travelers into a dizzying array of categories, sub-categories, and sub-sub-categories. Not only is there a ranking of the best cities in the world, there’s also the best small cities in the U.S. The world’s…

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Google Is Now in the Airfare Prediction Business

If you want to find the best price for a flight from Los Angeles to Boston on December 3, there is no shortage of apps and websites that will perform an Internet-wide search and display the results ranked in the order you specify. Of course, the airfares displayed are those in effect at that moment.…

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New DOT Rules Are Better than Nothing. But Just Barely

In what will likely be one of its final major moves under the current Obama administration, the Department of Transportation this week revealed a new set of rules governing various aspects of airline behavior. Here’s how DOT Secretary Anthony Foxx described the new rules: Airline passengers deserve to have access to clear and complete information…

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Coming: Cheaper Flights to Europe, but Mind the Restrictions

The market for Europe travel has softened, undermined by Brexit and terrorism concerns, among other factors. And what market there is is served by a growing contingent of cut-rate carriers like WOW and Norwegian Air. For the airlines, that’s a sure recipe for lower profits. For budget-conscious consumers, however, the picture is rosier. Lower Europe…

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Amex Doubles the Points for Small Business Spend

Remember when American Express positively ruled the high end of the credit card market, with its green, platinum, and black cards signifying the prosperity and importance of its Card Members (as Amex insists on calling its customers)? No more. And that’s a good thing for consumers. With the introduction of benefits-rich rewards cards like the…

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Win This: a 12-Day Tour of Peru for 2

Enter the LATAM Airlines “Textures of Time” sweepstakes by November 4, 2016, for a chance to win the grand prize: a 12-day trip for two to Peru, including air, tour package, accommodations, some meals, travel apparel, and a $500 gift card. To enter, provide the requested contact information (name, email, etc.) on the sweepstakes landing…

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Yes, You Can Earn Loyalty Points for Airbnb Stays

For Airbnb customers with an appetite for frequent-flyer points, it’s been more famine than feast. Notwithstanding the obvious linkage between on-the-road accommodations and other travel services, Airbnb, which boasts 2.5 million residential properties in 191 countries, is a partner in just three airline programs. The first of those tie-ups was with Virgin America, put in…

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Leave Your Exploding Samsung Phone at Home, or Else

Several days after Samsung threw up its hands and took the highly unusual step of scrapping its flagship Galaxy Note 7, the Department of Transportation has issued an all-out ban on bringing the fire-prone phones aboard all flights to, from, and within the U.S. According to a Tweet by DOT Secretary Anthony Foxx, “We are…

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